Determination of oil and moisture distribution in fried potatoes using magnetic resonance imaging

Abstract The objective of this study was to examine oil and moisture distribution in fried potatoes using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) as nondestructive technique and to establish a correlation between moisture content and oil content of fried potatoes with MRI results. In addition, it was aimed to evaluate the effects of frying time, predrying and precoating by hydroxyprophylmethylcellulose (HPMC) on moisture loss and oil uptake of the samples. Coating with HPMC was the best pretreatment to reduce oil uptake. Spin echo (SE) and multislice–multi‐echo (MSME) pulse sequences were used to obtain longitudinal relaxation time ( T 1 ) weighted and water suppression images and also spin–spin relaxation time ( T 2 ) maps of the samples. Results confirmed that by using different MR imaging sequences, prediction of oil and moisture contents ( r > 0.70) and exploring the distribution of oil and moisture within the fried pototaes was possible. Practical applications MRI, as being a nondestructive technique offers advantages compared to conventional methods of moisture and oil content measurements. Moreover, use of spin–spin relaxation time ( T 2 ) maps provided further information for moisture and oil distribution on the samples. MR images could also be used to extract information about the microstructure of the sample.